The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos.Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man.

5 out of 5 stars

Long live Maigret

By
Zaubermond
on
11-19-14

A Taste for Vengeance

A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel

By:
Martin Walker

Narrated by:
Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 11 hrs

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
166

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
157

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
156

When a British tourist fails to turn up for a luxurious cooking vacation in Bruno's usually idyllic Dordogne village of St. Denis, the worried hostess is quick to call on Bruno for help. Monica Felder is nowhere to be found, and her husband, a retired British major, is unreachable. And not long after Bruno discovers that Monica was traveling with a mysterious Irishman (her lover?), the two turn up dead. The Irishman's background in intelligence and his connection to Monica's husband only raise more questions for Bruno.

5 out of 5 stars

Best of the best

By
Sharon Major
on
06-28-18

Only to Sleep

By:
Lawrence Osborne

Narrated by:
Ray Porter

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
39

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
38

Story

4 out of 5 stars
38

The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. And Philip Marlowe - now in his 72nd year - is living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers, with a case that has his name written all over it. For Marlowe, this is his last roll of the dice, his swan song. His mission is to investigate the death of Donald Zinn - supposedly drowned off his yacht, and leaving behind a much younger and now very rich wife. But is Zinn actually alive?

5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant resurrection of greatest detective in US fiction

By
R. G. Shalhoub
on
07-28-18

Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series Compilation (Cherringham 1 - 3)

By:
Matthew Costello,
Neil Richards

Narrated by:
Neil Dudgeon

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,468

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,215

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,208

Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries. This compilation contains episodes 1 - 3: MURDER ON THAMES, MYSTERY AT THE MANOR and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT.

4 out of 5 stars

Great Find

By
Marie
on
10-29-16

Lane

A Case For Willows And Lane, Book 1

By:
Peter Grainger

Narrated by:
Henrietta Meire

Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
161

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
153

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
151

"So I thought I might take up paragliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning." Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life.

5 out of 5 stars

IT'S A DEFINITE YES

By
Ann
on
05-30-18

The Crow Trap

A Vera Stanhope Mystery

By:
Ann Cleeves

Narrated by:
Anne Dover

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,013

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
924

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
910

Three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal.... For team leader Rachael Lambert, the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide....

5 out of 5 stars

Worth the Wait

By
Marina
on
02-26-17

Pietr the Latvian

Inspector Maigret, Book 1

By:
Georges Simenon,
David Bellos (translator)

Narrated by:
Gareth Armstrong

Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
678

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
604

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
605

The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos.Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man.

5 out of 5 stars

Long live Maigret

By
Zaubermond
on
11-19-14

A Taste for Vengeance

A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel

By:
Martin Walker

Narrated by:
Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 11 hrs

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
166

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
157

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
156

When a British tourist fails to turn up for a luxurious cooking vacation in Bruno's usually idyllic Dordogne village of St. Denis, the worried hostess is quick to call on Bruno for help. Monica Felder is nowhere to be found, and her husband, a retired British major, is unreachable. And not long after Bruno discovers that Monica was traveling with a mysterious Irishman (her lover?), the two turn up dead. The Irishman's background in intelligence and his connection to Monica's husband only raise more questions for Bruno.

5 out of 5 stars

Best of the best

By
Sharon Major
on
06-28-18

Only to Sleep

By:
Lawrence Osborne

Narrated by:
Ray Porter

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
39

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
38

Story

4 out of 5 stars
38

The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. And Philip Marlowe - now in his 72nd year - is living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers, with a case that has his name written all over it. For Marlowe, this is his last roll of the dice, his swan song. His mission is to investigate the death of Donald Zinn - supposedly drowned off his yacht, and leaving behind a much younger and now very rich wife. But is Zinn actually alive?

5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant resurrection of greatest detective in US fiction

By
R. G. Shalhoub
on
07-28-18

Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series Compilation (Cherringham 1 - 3)

By:
Matthew Costello,
Neil Richards

Narrated by:
Neil Dudgeon

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,468

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,215

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,208

Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries. This compilation contains episodes 1 - 3: MURDER ON THAMES, MYSTERY AT THE MANOR and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT.

4 out of 5 stars

Great Find

By
Marie
on
10-29-16

Lane

A Case For Willows And Lane, Book 1

By:
Peter Grainger

Narrated by:
Henrietta Meire

Length: 5 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
161

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
153

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
151

"So I thought I might take up paragliding. You know, buy one on eBay and just jump off the cliff one morning." Emily Willows is middle-aged, widowed, wealthy, and bored. When she makes those flippant remarks to her son over coffee one Friday, she has no inkling that within a few hours she will be facing the most terrifying situation of her life.

5 out of 5 stars

IT'S A DEFINITE YES

By
Ann
on
05-30-18

The Crow Trap

A Vera Stanhope Mystery

By:
Ann Cleeves

Narrated by:
Anne Dover

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,013

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
924

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
910

Three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal.... For team leader Rachael Lambert, the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide....

5 out of 5 stars

Worth the Wait

By
Marina
on
02-26-17

Publisher's Summary

Georges Simenon's tragic tale of lost identity, translated by David Coward as part of the new Penguin Maigret series.

What was the woman doing here? In a stable, wearing pearl earrings, her stylish bracelet and white buckskin shoes! She must have been alive when she got there because the crime had been committed after ten in the evening. But how? And why? And no one had heard a thing! She had not screamed. The two carters had not woken up.

Inspector Maigret is standing in the pouring rain by a canal. A well-dressed woman, Mary Lampson, has been found strangled in a stable nearby. Why did her glamorous, hedonistic life come to such a brutal end here? Surely her taciturn husband Sir Walter knows - or maybe the answers lie with the crew of the barge La Providence.

Georges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.

David Coward is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Leeds, England, and an award- winning translator of numerous works from French.

Critic Reviews

"Compelling, remorseless, brilliant" (John Gray)
"One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century... Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." (
Guardian)
"A supreme writer... unforgettable vividness." (
Independent)